Been cleaning up my computer (New Year’s resolution, yeah!) and I seem to have a ridiculous amount of silly illos that I have not posted anywhere yet. So … here then is this one.

And come on, Series 3 … GET HERE, ALREADY!!!

I think Jimmy Fallon may very well be the happiest human being alive*. And probably for good reason.

I had the crappiest of crap weeks last week so I consoled myself by doodling something silly for no reason other than to just have fun doing it. (Part of that “Weird & Unnecessary” creative exercise that someone very successful taught me.) Was catching up on some Late Night via Hulu and remembered an idea I thought up back when the show started a couple of years ago. Hence why Owen is still in the Roots here, even though he’s now gone. I probably should have replaced him, but it works well design-wise, plus I guess I’m in denial because I had a bit of a secret crush on him. Actually, I’ve had a crush on Quest for years, so I’ll be fine. :) 

I’m digging this thing now of making portraits out of basic shapes … started with Pete Townshend, and now I have a ton of them in the works. I’m also nuts about these two colors together … would make a great screenprint.

I messed around with an alternate version that’s just a Roots fake gig poster … I’ll post that when I have time to finish it. That made me a bit sad again, though, as it got me to thinking … how is it that half the people I know are musicians, but I’ve never once gotten to do a funky gig poster?? COME ON GUYS … I can do it!

Ho hum. Anyway, enjoy!

*I discovered while googling reference photos that you don’t need to specify “Jimmy Fallon smiling” … they’re ALL like that. :D

Another “Weird & Unnecessary” exercise. (Examples/explanation here.) Got stuck on my piece for the Hitchcock show at G1988, so I did this in the middle of the night to clear my mind. Oddly enough, as creative projects often go, this exercise also inspired me to do this and this.

Anyway, I woke up three days in a row with “Love, Reign O’er Me”* in my head, so after pulling out The Who’s killer performance of “A Quick One While He’s Away” (my fave tune of theirs) from the Rolling Stones Rock & Roll Circus, I’ve been listening to way too much of them the last few weeks. I’m especially (finally!) reclaiming those three tracks that the CSI shows made me sick of over the last decade. (Watch this and you’ll never again associate Daltrey’s “YEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHH!!!” with Caruso and his stupid sunglasses. Instead: power slide!!)

Been wanting to mess around with geometrics, so everything is made from either a circle and/or a square/rectangle, which is also a nod to the Who’s roots as Mods. (Amazingly I was half-way through this before their song “Circles” even occurred to me. D’uh.) The red & blue swirls are the Who logo RAF bullseye, sound waves, record grooves, and the motion of Pete’s windmill. THOSE GLORIOUS WINDMILLS!!! According to his guitar tech, he often got the gear back all bloodied after a set because Pete frequently dropped his pick during a round of windmills but would keep doing them anyway. I also love how he gets so hyper jumping around that he tangles himself up in his cords, so I had to add that. (I would TOTALLY buy a Pete Townshend exercise DVD … “Won’t Get Fat Again”??)

Pete here is more of his mid-’60s self, but his guitar is a bit of a bastardization of several of his custom Gibsons from the ’70s, including the number 8.

*Am I the only one in the history of the Who to prefer QUADROPHENIA to TOMMY??

UPDATE: Click the “Pete Townshend” tag at the bottom of this post to see a recolored/reworked version. :)

YOU’RE AN INTERNATIONAL POP STAR, CHARLIE BROWN!

Just a silly idea that struck me while working on the Peanuts section of my portfolio update … as “Bells of NYC” (my jam!) got stuck on a loop in my head. Apparently Josh Groban takes his beloved pooch Sweeney everywhere … including on tour. I’ve not seen one of his shows (hey, I only just arrived to the Josh Groban Party™ thanks to the awesomely-introspective ILLUMINATIONS), but this is what I’m picturing the live experience is like. Plus, cartoons (especially Peanuts) are responsible for a great deal of my life-long love of jazz and classical music (it was literally because of Schroeder that I begged for piano lessons), so it was only a matter of time before the two elements mashed up. Incidentally, I guess this makes Groban (Schroeban? Groeder?) the first Peanuts character with a five-o’clock shadow, unless you count Pig Pen’s dirt beard.

I, for one, would like to see this Christmas special. Speaking of … um “Christmastime Is Here” on a future Groban Christmas album?? (Or “On Peanuts Playground” with Chris Botti on ANY album …) Please and thank you.

Parody fun only … no copyright infringement meant to my former employer

Something I did during a bout of insomnia to post on Dribbble, as it’s been ages since Sean drafted me and I hadn’t submitted anything yet. 

Been watching KOJAK on Hulu and completely forgot what a badass show it was. New York in the lawless ’70s … old-school detective work without computers or DNA (or ANY CSI procedure, apparently - pick that evidence up with your bare hand, sure, no problem!) … awesome guest stars just starting out (Harvey Keitel was so hot when he was young!) … and Savalas with that sexy velvety voice all full of “baby”s and “sweetheart”s and “hello, beautiful”s … SWOON. Seriously, 50 and bald … I’d like to be his grape Tootsie Pop. And those shades! David Caruso wishes his shades bit was as cool as Kojak’s, man.

Anyway, it’s now topped THE WIRE and CHiPS as my favorite cop show of all time.

Incidentally, I had no plan here … I love just opening Illustrator and starting to mess around. In fact, the only thing I was certain I wanted was to use his catchphrase: “Who Loves Ya, Baby?” as his other trademark: his lollipop stick. Other than that, the rest just happened.

And yes, ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE is still coming - TWO posters of it, actually - I guess it’s just a Telly Savalas week … just took a short diversion from Blofeld to Kojak.